Emile Lahoud

Emile Lahoud (12 January 1936-) was President of Lebanon from 24 November 1998 to 24 November 2007, succeeding Elias Hrawi and preceding Michel Suleiman.

Biography
Emile Lahoud was born on 12 January 1936 in Baabdat, Lebanon, 13.5 miles away from the capital of Beirut, to a Catholic family. His father was General Jamil Lahoud and his mother Andrenee Bajakian was of Armenian descent, with her family originating in Adapazari in Sakarya Province, Turkey. From 1956 to 1980, Lahoud served in the Lebanese Navy, being trained in the United Kingdom; however, in 1980 he joined the Lebanese Army. In 1983, he entered the Defense Ministry, and he rose to a senior position in the army, which he used to allow Syria to firmly control the security of Lebanon. In 1998, he ran for President, and on 24 November 1998 he won elections as an independent candidate. In 2004, his term as president was due to be over, but Syria supported a three-year extension of his presidency, going against the Ta'if Accords, with some ministers resigning due to opposition but Hezbollah and Iran supporting him. Lahoud said that Hezbollah freed Lebanon from Israel and voiced his respect for its leader Hassan Nasrallah, and he became unpopular due to being a Syrian puppet. He left office in 2007, and only after a year of political deadlock did Michel Suleiman succeed him.